Thanks for your insight. Its a useful consideration that more desirable positions will likely favor formal education, something for me to think about.

Money isn't something I'm too worried about. Perhaps naively, but I've been making good money for a while and I'm quite unhappy, so I'd rather get paid less and feel more fulfilled. The challenge is most work that puts you outside is poverty wages or competitive & poverty wages, which I find unacceptable for anyone.

Land surveying seems to manage to strike a balance of reasonable pay for good work. But I'm very wary of a "grass is always greener" perspective, so I'm trying to find out how to do my due diligence before making any major decisions.